Sunday, March 18, 2012

Elgin police shot a prisoner trying to escape from a patrol car as he was being driven to a Rolling Meadows courthouse Saturday morning, authorities said.

Elgin Police Cmdr. Glenn Theriault said the man had been arrested Friday on warrants of resisting arrest and fleeing and eluding police. After being held overnight in the city jail, an officer had put him into a police car Saturday morning to drive him to a bond court hearing at the Cook County Courthouse in Rolling Meadows.

Theriault said the car was traveling along Route 53 near Algonquin Road when the prisoner kicked out one of the car’s windows and then escaped from the car. The officer then shot him.

The prisoner was taken to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge. The man’s identity and condition has not been released, but Theriault said his injuries did not appear to be life-threatening.

He said the officer, whose name also was not released, was taken to a hospital to be examined but did not appear to be injured.